On Monday afternoon in the Arizona Fall League, the Surprise Saguaros lost to Mesa by a 7-2 score. Three Pirates saw action in this game, with two of their pitchers giving up most of the damage in the loss.
Eric Wood was the only Pirate in the starting lineup. He batted fifth and played third base. Wood came up with two men on in the first inning and was called out on strikes. He grounded out to third base in the fourth inning. In the sixth, Wood connected on a two-run homer, his second of the fall. He lined out to third base to end the eighth inning, leaving him 1-for-4 on the day.
Tanner Anderson made his third start of the fall. He came into the game with a 4.23 ERA, allowing three earned runs on six hits and two walks, with five strikeouts, in 6.1 innings. Anderson had a rough first inning that started with a lead-off single. After a ground out advanced the runner to second, he allowed back-to-back doubles to scored two runs. Anderson then got a fly out to left field, which was followed by an RBI single to give Mesa an early 3-0 lead.
In the second inning, Anderson pitched more like the ground ball machine we saw most of the regular season. He retired the side in order on three consecutive grounders. He also set down the side in order in the third inning, getting a ground out, a line out and a strikeout.
In the fourth, Anderson allowed a run on two hits, but the run ended up being unearned due to a throwing error, which allowed the lead-off single to go to second base. Anderson threw 57 pitches total, with 35 going for strikes. His final line was four runs (three earned) on six hits and no walks in four inning. He had one strikeout and a 7:1 GO/AO ratio.
Montana DuRapau followed Anderson and his tough fall continued, though this time it was control issues, rather than the hard hits that plagued him in his previous three appearances. DuRapau gave up an infield single with one out. Eric Wood fielded the softly hit ball and threw it away, resulting in the runner going to second base. That was followed by two walks and a hit batter, bringing home a run. DuRapau needed 27 pitches to get through his one inning, with only 13 going for strikes. He has an 11.25 ERA and a 2.50 WHIP in four appearances.
Surprise travels to Glendale tomorrow for an afternoon game.
